Mars is a planet full of mysteries. A recent potential volcanic eruption could a hint for signs of life on the red planet. Read more @ https://bit.ly/3nY7Bhm

If you consider yourself a brave traveler who travel frequently to most exciting & adventurous places in the world?. If you think so, then you can consider your next trip to explore the some of the deadliest volcanoes around the world.

Here we have a great list of most beautiful & nature packed islands which are famous for volcanoes.

1. Santorini - Island in the Aegean Sea.

Santorini is famous for it's volcanic islands in the aegean sea. It is located in between the los & anafi islands. It provides you the stunning sunsets, strange white(egg plant), the town of thira & it's very own the active volcanoes.

2. Bali - Island in Indonesia.

Bali is famous for it's forested volcanic mountains, beaches, coral reafs & iconic rice paddies. You can trip to bali for several other reasons, because it's well known for it's yoga & meditation retreats.

There are some of the most adventuors Volcanoes in Bali such as; mount agung, Mount batur, Bratan, Mount Merbuk, Galunggung, Mount Gede.

3. Krakatoa - Caldera in Indonesia

Krakatoa, or Krakatau, is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. Source

It is still active volcano & it's Last Eruption was in 2018 & the elevation and prominence is about 813 meters.

4. Nishinoshima - Island in Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan

Nishi-no-shima is a volcanic island located around 940 km south-southeast of Tokyo, that is part of the Volcano Islands arc. It has also been known as Rosario Island. Source

5. Surtsey - Island in Iceland

Surtsey is a volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At 63.303°N 20.605°W, Surtsey is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on 14 November 1963. Source

It is geologically active volcano teeming with life with the elevation of 155M & spread in 140HA area.

6. Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Best time to visit hawaiian islands Source

7. Kauai - Island in Hawaii

Kauai is one of the best places to visit in hawaii & sight seeing for true travellers, whether you're a solo traveller or group traveller. You can see the Kilauea volcano in kauai island.

8. Stromboli - Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily (Italy)
9. Whakaari / White Island - Stratovolcano in New Zealand
10. Barren Island - Volcano in India
11. Tristan da Cunha - Group of islands in Saint Helena
12. Nisyros - Island in the Aegean Sea
13. Metis Shoal - Island in Tonga
14. Vulcano - Island in Italy
15. Taveuni - Island in Fiji
16. Ascension Island - Island in the Atlantic Ocean
17. Cumbre Vieja - Ridge in Spain
18. North Island - Island in New Zealand
19. Lanzarote - Island in the Atlantic Ocean
20. Iwo Jima - Island in Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan
21. Anak Krakatau - Island in Indonesia
22. Tenerife - Island in Spain
23. La Gomera - Island in Spain
24. Faial Island
25. Narcondam Island
26. Ambrym
27. Therasia
28. Nea Kameni
29. São Miguel
30. Zalzala Koh
31. South Iwo Jima
32. Niijima
33. Palia Kameni
34. North Iwo Jima
35. Bouvet Island
36. Heimaey
37. Moorea
38. Salina, Sicily
39. Luzon
40. San Benedicto Island

Okay, I'm going to start off by saying that I got a little lost at times and wasn't always sure about what was going on. I'll try to describe the story as best I can, but I could be wrong about a few things.

Azar is a city located at the foot of a volcano. The people of Azar used to perform rituals to appease the goddess of the volcano, but that didn't stop the volcano from occasionally erupting and destroying everything. Eventually the Cult of the Goddess left Azar and established a new home for themselves, the Golden Capitol. It's now many, many years later, and there's a rebel group called the Third Wave that's convinced that the Cult of the Goddess is keeping the goddess captive, and they want to free her.

Keegan is the goddess's daughter. She tries to help the rebels, but something goes wrong, her mother ends up dead, and Keegan becomes the new goddess. At that point, she becomes determined to go back to Azar, the home of her ancestors. However, the Cult of the Goddess isn't her only enemy. An emissary from the water goddess is after her, and there's a prophecy that Keegan's return to Azar will mean its destruction.

This was an ARC my mom picked up for me at a conference. As far as I can tell, this volume collects the entire series. It doesn't appear to be a spinoff of anything, although it kind of felt like it was, and I can't find anything about any sort of continuation, even though the ending leaves room for more story.

I didn't like the artwork at all, but Tamra Bonvillain's coloring helped paper over some of its shortcomings and almost make it pretty, at times. There was some really nice use of cool vs. warm colors.

The story was intriguing enough, but confusing and a bit choppy. I had thought the Cult of the Goddess would be important in some way, but after the confined goddess was dealt with, they might as well have been written out of the story. It felt like they had been, after Adria rescued Griffin. Who, by the way, was not worth any amount of Keegan and Adria's time and energy. I don't know what either of them saw in him. He was a quick way for the author to establish a basis for Adria and Keegan's more human rivalry before their goddess rivalry added fuel to the fire.

I don't know that this was necessarily bad, but it definitely could have been better. The story and characters just left me cold.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

I write this review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, and I freely chose to review an ARC copy of this novel.

This is an ambitious novel. The author has tried to combine a complex set of characters with a gripping plot. AJ, the protagonist of the novel, is a woman in crisis, dealing with grief, having to bring-up two young boys on her own (neither of them the ideal well-behaved easy-child that everybody dreams of, but I suspect doesn’t exist in real life. The oldest, Will, in the autistic spectrum, and Finn, whom we hear plenty about but don’t get to know as well first-hand, sounds pretty overactive and his behaviour can be also challenging at times), suffering from anxiety (and perhaps other mental health difficulties), and experiencing an almost totally crippling fear of driving. We hear her side of the story, narrated in the first person. Being a professional writer, she makes for a compelling narrator, and, although not being a mother and not sharing in her extreme circumstances I do not have much in common with her, I felt the author managed to convey well the doubts, anxieties, hesitations, guilt, and the difficulties the character experienced accepting her situation, moving through the stages of grief, and eventually giving herself (and others) a chance. Her son, Will, loves all things volcano, weather, and geology, and the author offers us his perspective of the situation (this time in the third person) that serves two purposes: on the one hand, we get a more objective outsider’s perspective of how things are (because being inside of AJ’s head all the time means her suspiciousness and paranoia are not always easy to separate from how bad things really are), and we also get an understanding of how things look like and feel for a child with high-functioning autism (although there is less emphasis on that aspect than in other books I’ve read, unsurprising if we take into consideration the many other things going on).

We are later introduced to Reid, who is a combination of knight in shining armour, love interest, and also a man haunted by issues from the past (ex-military, talks about PTSD as if he was very knowledgeable about it, and his behaviour is at times mysterious, to say the least). Although AJ is suspicious about him and it takes her a long time to give him a chance, do not worry, the novel also contains romance and an opportunity for redemption. (I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but the description is quite clear in some aspects, and this is not a mystery novel, even if there are some details about the characters that are only revealed late in the story, and eventually help us understand people and events much better).

The plot keeps the story ticking, ensuring that people who might find the self-questioning and doubts AJ has to confront a bit uncomfortable (or worry that they might slow the story) have plenty to keep them turning the pages. A major disaster is the background of the story, which once AJ decides to go searching for her son, becomes the novel equivalent of a road movie. This is not a post-apocalyptic novel, but there is evidence of research and credible details of the likely scenario and consequences of such an event are interspersed through the narrative. Thanks to Will’s interest in volcanos we get first-hand information about that side of things, and as they approach the affected area, we get an almost physical sense of what it would be like to live the aftermath of a super volcano eruption. Apart from nature, the characters have to confront many other problems: technical difficulties, robberies, attempted assaults, road blocks, lack of supplies, poor telephone lines and a break-up in communication, no running water, no access to prescription medication… A woman with a driving-phobia having to drive across half the country is enough of a challenge, but her resolution keeps getting tested, and despite her reluctance to ask for or accept help, no matter how cautious and well-prepared she thought she was, she discovers that she needs a helping hand. Although the situation is harrowing and there is almost no rest or break from it (other than some dreams of the past AJ experiences, that provide us more background information and a better understanding of where she is coming from, her moments writing the diary, and the odd detour), this is not a book that gets into the gore of the destruction in detail, and, if anything, we are so focused on the here-and-now of the story that the global picture (and the many lives lost) is somewhat diluted.

The ending is satisfying and hopeful, in marked contrast to the difficulties and hindrances experienced during the trip, and in many ways the book can be seen as a metaphor for the process the main character must go through. AJ’s whole world has shattered around her, and she has been put to the test. She realises that she is stronger than she needs, that she can ask for help, and that she is ready to —slowly— move on.

As I mentioned, I did not identify with AJ, and I am not a big fan of romance (there is also a mild and not-too-graphic sex scene, but I thought I’d warn people just in case), but the book captures well the mental processes of the main character, who is a credible and complex woman trying to do her best in very difficult circumstances. The challenges of motherhood are also compellingly told (although I have no personal knowledge of the subject), and I am sure many readers will enjoy that aspect as well. If people are looking for other books focusing on the autism side-of-things, I’d recommend a couple of books as well: the well-known The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, from an older boy’s perspective (and if you can catch the play, it’s well-worth watching), and Keith Stuart’s A Boy Made of Blocks where the father of a child with autism is the main character.

A tour-de-force that combines a gripping plot with strong and complex characters, and a hopeful message. Recommended for readers of women’s fiction.

(Original Review, 1981-03-15)

“The Consul reached forward and absentmindedly managed a sip of whisky; the voice might have been either of his familiars or - Hullo, good morning. The instant the Consul saw the thing he knew it an hallucination and he sat, quite calmly now, waiting for the object shaped like a dead man and which seemed to be lying flat on its back by his swimming pool, with a large sombrero over its face, to go away. So the 'other' had come again. And now gone, he thought: but no, not quite, for there was still something there, in some way connected with it, or here, at his elbow, or behind his back, in front of him now; no, that too, wherever it was, was going: perhaps it had only been the coppery-tailed trogon stirring in the bushes, his 'ambiguous bird' that was now departed quickly on creaking wings, like a pigeon once it was in flight, heading for its solitary home in the Canyon of the Wolves, away from the people with ideas.”

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.